syncopated.

Theory of Laughter

Theory of Laughter

everyone laughs. there are so many different types of laughter, sniggers, giggles, lols, rofls.

so can you judge someone by his laughter?

there are people who just simply turn you off by their laughter - it just gets so irritating that you stop laughing yourself.

and then there are people who, just by laughing, can make everyone around them laugh along, even if they themselves don't know what they are supposed to be laughing at.

and somehow, it is these people that seem to be more friendly, more fun to be with. perhaps it just has to do with the image of being around other people who are having fun. which makes a lot of sense...

went to hans' house to do la(b) seminar (members - tim, hans, kwong) . nice place - terrace, with very large rooms, a couple of computers. we were doing question 6, something about comparing things fall apart and aristotle's ideal, oedipus (who???) and hamlet.

came across this interesting dice, the sides read: yes, no, maybe, depends, i'll think about it. the last side had the company logo on it. so fun lol, we took a break and were asking questions like "am i gay", "will i pass maths test", "will i have a date for prom nite" etc.

which raises the question, how do we best solve life's most pressing decisions? sure, the standard answer will probably be to consult the people with the knowledge, yet from my experience it doesn't always come up with the best answer.

hans was absolutely delighted with the new ringtone i composed for him - complete with percussion in the background. haha. also discovered my parents know his dad.

some pics from opti worlds. doing quite well, jovina damn pro sia. but then for scott and paul...

hope can do well in team racing.

keep quiet
nothing comes as easy as you
can i lay in your bed all day
i'll be your best kept secret
and your biggest mistake
the hand behind this pen relieves a failure every day

... you look so good in blue...

we need to laugh more.

Strummed at 9:50 PM (x)

School Life

been flooded with work this week, along with physics test (nirmala didn't come, so we didn't have la(a) test). at the moment doing geog assignment, thought i would stop over to blog.

did quite well for the test. just that i overdid one question and decided not to use conventional current. the result was that kwong and ying hao were like looking at my paper and going "huh?!?!". ended up copying my wrong answer, lol!

well, better finish it now. here's a class pic... at kluang adventure camp.

i don't know where i am... maybe i was in the toilet.

Strummed at 8:50 PM (x)

Notes

Notes

it would be nice to learn how to play the guitar.

until then, i can do little but make do with the piano. but then again, it is quite easy to play. just that practising is rather a chore, and by the time i've mastered a piece, i am absolutely sian of it.

however, on a happier note (pun intended), i have had some fun on the keyboards. i alone managed to find the notes to two particular songs, namely, sweet child o' mine (guns n' roses) and plug in baby (muse). and they sound damn nice. yeah.

here they are.

sweet child o' mine

D(1st octave) D(2nd) A(1st) F#(1st) G(2nd) A(1st) F#(2nd) A(1st)
(repeat)
E(1st) D(2nd) A(1st) F#(1st) G(2nd) A(1st) F#(2nd) A(1st)
(repeat)
G(1st) D(2nd) A(1st) F#(1st) G(2nd) A(1st) F#(2nd) A(1st)
(repeat)

plug in baby

C# D E C# D E F D E F G A Bb A G F E
(repeat)

so fun. even my mom thinks they sound interesting.

i also penned a tune i had in my head on friday during school. maybe i'll find some time to write a song out of it.

Strummed at 3:12 PM (x)

Laser

Laser

firstly, congratulations to our new sportsboy of the year 2005, teo wee chin, and his partner, no less undeserving of praise, terence koh, for winning the youth world championships in busan. kudos also to the rest of the team, melcolm, peiquan, dawn, siobham, maxi, victoria. so proud of them! to think that once we were all together, bobbing around in bathtubs with zero wind conditions and lousy race committees. good luck also to the optimist team in switzerland for their world championships.


i sailed the laser today. full rig.

what a quick transition it has been from byte to laser. just after noon my dad and i went down to nsc to settle all the little things. they were:

1. first, decide whether to go into the radial or the full rig
   
2. find my dad's boat, which uncle george of noss had borrowed
• make sure everything is accounted for (sails, foils, ropes etc.)
  
• see what condition it is in
  
3. visit tim ross
   • to see if there are any new/used boats available
   • " " sails
   • get prices

quite a list, as i'm sure you can see.

i was keen on plunging straight into the full rig. i thought that a) it would be a faster transition to go straight into it b) there was little competition in the radial (it's meant for the girls...)

well, we found the boat all right. it's a 'classic', which basically means that it is a youthful 11-odd years old. it was dirty, but was still in good condition. we found the spars with some difficulty, had to mess around in their sheds to find the training and racing sails, and eventually found that we had lost a kicker, crew tie, and had a few screws to replace here and there. not too bad.

so after a hurried maintenance session, i set about to rig up the boat, and then asked to sail with the national team. it was evidently an enriching experience.

there was seng leong, cai weiguo (who i first sailed with in the opti), marc, zhen hao, shaun, shane, and some others.

i won the first race. heh.

but it wasn't fair la. there was hardly wind, and with a 20kg advantage... still, cool.

i learnt a lot. i think i can sail it reasonably now. but what set me thinking was what seng leong and cai told me. they said that i should really sail the radial first before the full rig, because, in cai's own words, "are you going to learn anything in the full rig? when the wind is 12 knots, you just get blown away... you should sail radial until you're about 18, then switch when you're 78+/-." seng leong said, "ya, so when 4 knots that time you sail faster than everyone, but it's not because of skill, it's just your weight. don't kid yourself, sail the boat for your weight. the change between radial and full rig is a very simple one, so don't worry."

cai actually asked me if i was thinking of sailing full time... do they really rate me so highly...?

lol. at this moment, the three of us and manyi were flapping sails waiting for the start. i asked cai who i would be sailing against. he pointed at her and said, "you're looking at the competition." hahaha. of course, there is also victoria.

ah well. i guess i have decided to sail radial... even thought it is a girls class. the truth is, i was struggling with the full rig when the 10 knot storm gust hit... though i didn't capsize :p

i'm hopeful. hopeful i won't be making another wrong turn.

Strummed at 9:00 PM (x)

Trip to France part 2

Trip To France Part 2

ok so we drove a little bit more, stayed over at more people's houses (above)... including this luxuriant one in the Loire Valley (however you spell it). they actually had cherry trees in the gardern, so we had cherry jam, cherry cake, cherry bread, cherry whatever for breakfast.

this particular house was located along the Seine, with some rather picturesque views(below). on one morning, they had some sort of 'bicycle day' where everyone used bicycles to get wherever they wanted to go. we borrowed bikes and joined in the fun, catching sight of some hot air balloons along the way...

after all that time in the countryside, we went to paris proper. it was definitely eye-catching.

we saw the usual sights, the arc du triomphe, apparantly built after napoleon returned victorious or something like that. i thought it quite awe-inspiring.

we also went to see the eiffel tower. i didn't expect too much - big attractions often disappoint in my experience. indeed it was crowded with tourists. even more vexing was that there was two queues, one for climbing up and one for taking the elevator. there was no queue for walking, only for the elevator. i just had the feeling that most of them were there for the sake of bragging to their friends, "Oh! i've been on the eiffel tower!!", without really appreciating its majesty.

or what's left of it anyway. not when there are elevators built into the sides, snack stalls selling tidbits and drinks and restaurants on the two levels. even imagining it without all that, the structure itself isn't very appealing close up. all that metal seem to be twisted together without any real purpose, somehow.

ah well. the positive at least was that it commanded a good view of the city. maybe i am just dissing it because the weather for the past week had been above 30 - not what i wanted. note that we wore what we would have worn in singapore.

conclusion. the best time to see the eiffel tower is when it is lit up at night.

arc du triomphe.

i told my dad to take this photo. looks as if the street lamp taller than the tower, no? haha.

on top of the eiffel tower...

oh ya, we also visited the louvre, just for the sake of dan brown. quite nice, but also rather boring. absolutely crowded too, and i think that mona lisa hardly deserves all the attention it deserves.

and so that wraps up this long entry.

to end, there's this photo my dad took while we walking along the beach... and is now my wall paper... nice rite.

Strummed at 7:11 PM (x)

pre-crime

pre-crime

had the oppurtunity to watch most of it last night. maybe it's because i missed the first part, but it seemed to have the most complicated plot i have ever seen. so many things happening, forseeing this, arresting this person, shouting "run!!"... it was rather incomprehensible.

so anyway, it's about this 'precognition' of a crime before it happens, and then going to catch the criminal before he commits the deed, thus saving the victim. cool idea.

but of course, the sad thing is that some poor guy probably would never know until he was arrested that he was ever going to do anything wrong. free will goes down the drain. (sounds like philosophy...)

the lesson, i guess, is that we must learn to treasure every fleeting second of our lives... for before you know it, it is taken away from you.

i guess the message of this song ties in well with the story:

The Artist In The Ambulance by Thrice

...

late night, brakes lock, hear the tires squeal
red light, can't stop so i spin the wheel
my world goes black before i
feel an angel steal me from the
greedy jaws of death and chance
and pull me in with steady hands
they've given me a second chance
the artist in the ambulance

i hope that i will never let you down 
i know that this can be more
than just flashing lights and sound
can we pick you off the ground
more than flashing lights and sound

another thing...

i need to watch more movies.

Strummed at 8:21 PM (x)

Trip to France

trip to france part 1

my dad has become an avid photographer over the past few years. this shall be an ode to his new found pride and joy - a view of our visit to the north of france between the 14th and the 23rd of june this year. enjoy.




































we rented a car and drove first to the region of Normandy (think The Longest Day, Saving Private Ryan), and first visited a city called Rouen. it was an interesting place with a nice atmosphere, delightfully devoid of crowds. we stayed over at a bed & breakfast(above), a nice enough place, but we had to stay in the attic. you could call it claustophobic because the walls were sloping into the room, forming a rather enclosed space.


























then we drove to dieppe, with pebble beaches and harbours, and visited the famed omaha and utah beaches. not much to comment about - it was, sadly, rather touristy for me. still the sight of those formidable gun battlements was worth it. that they can survive till now just shows the wonders of german engineering.
























stay tuned.

Strummed at 2:38 PM (x)

beginnings

beginnings

the following is a narration of a certain MTV ad i witnessed some time ago.

(unknown three piece band setting up on stage in front of a wedding couple holding hands.)

lead singer: "test test..."
(microphone screeches. the crowd goes wild... and rushes to cover their ears.)

lead singer: "alright everyone!! having good time?! ok!this song is called "love forever"!!!

(pause.)

lead singer: "a one, a two, a one-two-three go!!!!"
(percussionist begins striking his drums randomly and out of time. guitarist strums a chord and drops his pick.)
guitarist(hushed): shit.

lead singer(with neither time nor tune): yeaaaaah!! yeeeeah!! yeeeeaaaahh!!
(wedding couple stare at each other with despair written across their faces.)
lead singer: yeeeeaaaahh!!

(suddenly, lead singer drops his microphone, and 'stage-dives' onto the wedding couple, squashing them flat.)
(ends.)

hurrah to the widespread illness called MTV. though half of the videos they show nowadays are all the same - rap song, some mildly interesting but repetitive beat, a few hot babes posing. sad.

so, anyway, with the conclusion of my 'o's, i've now started my blog... we'll just see how it goes

Strummed at 3:18 PM (x)